


An Honest Woman

by Lynda Sappington (HowNovel)



Series: The StarFamily Trilogy [2]
Category: Starman (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1988-12-10
Updated: 1988-12-10
Packaged: 2017-11-20 18:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/588511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowNovel/pseuds/Lynda%20Sappington
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary for series:  Paul, Jenny and Scott finally become a whole family. But will it last with Fox still on their trail?</p><p>Part 2: An Honest Woman  </p><p>Scott finds himself in a delicately uncomfortable role reversal with his father, and Starman responds in his own unique way. With Scott looking on, Paul and Jenny are finally married in their own unique manner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Honest Woman

An Honest Woman  
A STARMAN Story  
Part II of "The Star Family Trilogy"  
by Lynda Sappington

Many thanks to Cheryl, Desertgal and Candi for their help, advice, and continued friendship. You're the best!

Copyright December 1988, Lynda B. Sappington. "An Honest Woman" is a non-profit, amateur publication written for the enjoyment of STARMAN fans, and is not meant to infringe upon copyrights held by Henerson-Hirsch and Michael Douglas Productions, Columbia Pictures Television, or ABC-TV.

Material contained herein may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.

Part I of "The Star Family Trilogy" is called "Pas de Deux". Part III is called "Fox's Quest".

An Honest Woman

by Lynda Sappington

Paul Forrester leaned toward the television, forehead furrowed in concentration, his chin cupped in his hand, his elbow on his knee. The old movie he was watching had held him spellbound as it spun out a story of many different kinds of relationships, set during World War II. He was most interested in the longtime romance of the two lead characters. They had been together, then separated several times, and obviously were very much in love. What little time the movie characters had together they had to make the most of, because they never knew when they would see each other again, if ever. The movie's parallels to his relationship with Jenny rekindled the memories of the joy of their all-too-few, all-too-brief times together, and the pain of their being forced to part. Paul still didn't understand the reasons behind war, but he understood the hurt and longing the characters were portraying each time they had to be apart.

Other characters' stories took over the movie for a while, and Paul went to make some popcorn. He poured some into a bowl for Scott, who was doing his homework.

"What are you studying, Scott?" Paul asked as he stuffed some popcorn in his mouth.

"Physics. Yuck," Scott replied, obviously frustrated.

"Why yuck?"

"I don't get it."

"Let's see if I can help," Paul offered, pulling up a chair to sit next to his son. "Physics is something I'm good at."

"Sure it is, on your planet, maybe," Scott growled, slamming the book on the table. His face lit up with a sudden grin. "I'd love to see the teachers' faces if I did some of your physics for them. I bet it'd blow their minds!"

"Maybe so. The basics would be the same, though, wouldn't they?"

"I don't know. I'll get it if I just keep plugging away at it. I don't want my answers to be as off the wall as my science project was, just because you know more than anybody on earth about the subject!" he laughed.

"Well, okay. Let me know if you want me to try to help," Paul said, getting up to go back to his movie.

"Okay, thanks, Dad. I do appreciate the offer. I didn't mean to blow up before. This stuff is just giving me a hard time right now."

"I understand. I had similar problems when I was learning the basics of some things too. Once you understand the basics, though, the rest comes easier."

"You're kidding. You had trouble in school?"

"At times. All intelligent life forms that I know about have some type of education process, and aspects of that education are difficult for the young of each species. I think it's a universal law or something," Paul smiled.

"I never thought of that. Imagine little green — oops, I mean pink — Martian kids having trouble in school. Weird!" Scott laughed, then grabbed a handful of popcorn. "How's your movie?"

"It's interesting. The soldiers don't want to leave their homes and their families, but when they do leave, they seem to form a strong bond among themselves. That must be the way Jake felt about Paul Forrester."

"I guess so."

"I'll let you get back to work."

"Okay. Thanks for the popcorn, Dad," he said with a smile. Paul returned to the movie to find the soldier whose love story interested him was home on leave. The soldier's fiance's brother was angry with the soldier.

"Well?" the brother said belligerently. "Are you going to make an honest woman of her?"

"Yes, of course," the soldier replied earnestly. "We're planning to get married as soon as possible."

"You'd better make it sooner," the brother growled.

Just then, the television station interrupted the program for a weather alert. There were thunderstorms headed toward the small city of Verona, where Paul and Scott were living for a while.

Paul enjoyed thunderstorms. He found the lightning beautiful and exciting, and he liked the vibrating feeling in his bones when the thunder was so loud it shook the earth. He walked to the window and looked out hopefully, but the storm wasn't yet visible.

The movie returned to the screen.

"...born out of wedlock," some character was saying in a conspiratorial whisper. It was a woman who seemed to be sharing a secret with a friend.

"Well, I heard they were going to be married, but he got shipped out before they were able to, and now he's missing in action," the other character replied.

No longer interested in the story, Paul turned off the television and turned off most of the lights in the room so he could see outside better. As he watched the lightning beginning to dance across the sky, parts of the movie ran through his mind, piquing his curiosity. He mulled over the ideas the story stirred up, then went to his best resource, Scott.

"Scott? Are you through studying?"

"I'm ready to quit. My eyes Are getting crossed from studying so much," Scott said as he knuckled his eyes, then stretched and yawned.

"Getting crossed? Let's see," Paul said with concern, sitting down next to his son.

"No, Dad, it's just an expression! I'm okay, I just meant my eyes are tired. They aren't really getting crossed," Scott said reassuringly.

"Oh. Well. I knew that," Paul replied, trying to cover his mistake. "I was just teasing you."

"Oh, was that it?" Scott said with a knowing smile. "Okay. Is the movie over?"

"No, I don't think so. I lost interest in it after the weather announcement."

"Yeah, I thought you might prefer to watch the lightning instead of TV," Scott chuckled.

Paul moved restlessly in his seat, trying to figure out how to ask Scott about the movie, when he wasn't sure himself exactly what it was that was bothering him.

"Scott, what's an 'honest woman?" he asked.

"An 'honest woman'? How was it used? What were they talking about when they said it?"

"I don't, think the woman broke any laws. That's why it doesn't make sense to me that the one man was telling the other to 'make an honest woman of her'."

"Oh! I get it. When someone says something about making an 'honest woman' of someone, they mean she's going to get married. The guy who marries her makes an 'honest woman of her'."

"How was she dishonest before?"

"Uh... That's a tough one. I'm not sure unless they meant that the woman was with the man before they got married." Scott hoped that would be enough of an explanation, but saw from his father's bewildered look he would have to go further. "You know. Together, together."

"Being 'together together' before they get married isn't honest?"

"To some people, I suppose," Scott answered uncomfortably. This was not something that was easy for him to discuss with his dad.

"Isn't it dishonest for the man too? Will getting married make an honest man of him?"

"I don't know. Dad. That's just the way it's said, I guess. I've never heard of 'making an honest man' of somebody by getting married, only the 'honest woman' part. I don't really know that much about it." Scott squirmed uneasily in his chair, wishing he could figure out a way to change the subject.

Paul was so absorbed in considering the movie in light of the information Scott had given him, he seemed not to have noticed his son's uneasiness. After a few moments thought, he said, "We've been to part of a wedding, Scott. How does that make them married?"

"I don't know. I guess because they vow stuff to each other, and a preacher has permission from the state to marry people, and he says they have promised enough stuff and now they're married. That's pretty much all I know about it."

"So it's 'honest' to be 'together together' after you vow stuff to each other, but not before? What kind of stuff do they vow?"

"This is so complicated!" Scott cried in exasperation. He could a see his dad looked apologetic, but obviously still wanted an answer if Scott was able to give him one. "I don't know all the stuff they vow. I guess you know that a vow is - a promise. They promise to love each other, and to stick together in sickness and health and stuff like that, and to stay together until they die. I guess they don't think about divorce when they're deciding what to vow, or they might leave out that 'till death do us part' bit. Do you understand now?"

"I think so. They have to agree to certain promises, and they're supposed to keep their promises until they die. Is that right?"

"Yes, that's it."

"And making those promises makes them married?"

"Only if there's a guy there the state has given permission to marry people, like a preacher or a judge."

"Oh." Paul sat quietly for a long time.

Scott could see his father was thinking hard about something, and got up silently so he wouldn't disturb him. He finished his popcorn and began to get ready for bed.

"Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"What does 'out of wedlock' mean?"

Scott groaned, moving restlessly around the room putting his school things away as he considered the best way to answer this one. "I think it means the people involved aren't married to each other."

"Why would anybody be whispering about it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"In the movie, two old women were whispering and said something about 'born out of wedlock'. Babies aren't married. What did that mean?"

"It means the parents weren't married when the child was born," Scott said irritably as he turned quickly away.

Paul could see now that he was making Scott uncomfortable, and regretted that Scott was his only source of information for so many things. It must be terribly hard on his son, he thought.

"Scott?" Paul asked as Scott was heading toward the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Yeah, Dad?" Scott said with apparent dread in his face. He was worried about where his father's questioning was leading.

"I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable with my questions."

"That's okay." Scott sounded relieved that his father was dropping the questions. "It's really kind of funny. Usually the parents have to explain this kind of stuff to their kids." He shrugged as he turned to finish getting ready for bed.  
  
---  
  
Flashes of lightning punctuated the darkness while Paul and Scott lay in their beds trying to get to sleep. Paul was considering all that he'd learned that evening, turning things over in his mind again and again. Every time, he came up with the same answer. He'd made a mistake. How could he correct it?

"Scott? Are you asleep?"

"Not yet. The lightning wakes me up every time I doze off."

"Yes, there is a lot of lightning in this storm. I'm enjoying watching it. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"Can I ask you a hard question?"

"I thought that was the only kind you ever asked!" Scott replied with a chuckle.

"No, this one is really hard. If you don't want to answer, I'll understand."

Scott had been dreading this moment ever since his father had begun his queries earlier. "Go ahead. Shoot."

"Thanks anyway, I'd rather talk than shoot!" Paul teased, trying to relax his son.

"Old joke, Dad. What do you want to know?"

Paul took a deep breath, then asked carefully, "Do you consider yourself to be born out of wedlock?"

There was a long silence from Scott's bed. "Well...I guess I don't actually consider myself to be born out of wedlock mostly because I don't think about it much. If you want to be picky about it, you were in the form of Scott Hayden, who was married to my mother, so I wasn't truly born out of wedlock...I guess."

"But Scott had been dead, so, if they vowed 'till death do us part', your mother wasn't married anymore, and I'm not Scott, so she wasn't married to me. Is that right?"

"That sounds right to me. If Scott Hayden was dead, she was a widow, which means she wasn't married. You aren't Scott Hayden any more than you're Paul Forrester, so she couldn't have been married to you when you were Scott Hayden."

"She's not married to me now either. We've never had someone appointed by the state tell us our promises were enough, and we were married."

"Don't worry about it. I think you are probably a special case. There most likely isn't any rule or precedent for an alien who takes on the form of a dead man and whether or not he's legally married to the dead man's widow. I think you and Mom are probably unique in the universe." Scott sounded impatient, as if he wanted to drop the whole subject.

"Yes, but does that make it right?"

"In whose eyes?"

"I don't know. Who is it that worries about whether or not people are married?"

"I don't think anyone but Internal Revenue and the churches worry about it anymore. Things are looser now than they were."

"But does that make it right?" Paul persisted.

"I don't know, Dad, that's too hard for me. You're smart, you figure it out."

It was apparent to Paul that Scott was not happy to be discussing this. His voice showed that this was a painful subject for him.

"I'm sorry, Scott. I can tell this is hard for you to talk about, but I just didn't know who else I could ask. I'm sorry I upset you."

"I know you and Mom both love me, and that's all that really matters. Just forget about it, okay?"

"Okay," Paul said to soothe Scott, knowing he wouldn't really be able to forget about it. He listened in the dark to the soft sound of Scott's breathing. He could tell Scott stayed awake and tense a long time. Paul ran his hand through his hair restlessly and rolled over, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape. He slid his hand under the thin pillow, cushioning his head on his arm as he did when they slept outside. Looking out the window, he watched the play of lightning across the sky, and followed the patterns of raindrops streaming down the windowpanes. He listened to Scott's breathing as it grew deeper and steadier in sleep. When he knew Scott had been asleep for some time and wasn't likely to waken easily, he sat up and got out his sphere, activating it quickly to a soft blue glow. He gazed steadily into it for a long time, applying his natural logic to the tangled problem of his relationship with Jenny Hayden and Scott. He had never worried before about Scott's being 'born out of wedlock'. He thought of babies as a product of love, and hadn't ever seriously considered why people got married, or what difference the timing of their marriage and their children's births made. He tried to understand how a man appointed by the state and the couple saying some vows could make a significant difference in a relationship. He knew he'd have to do some serious research, using more resources than just Scott's knowledge, before he'd understand fully.

Things were so different at home. It was so hard for him to comprehend some Earth customs, but he was determined to live as an Earth person, and would do whatever necessary to live the right way. From his many travels and knowledge of other cultures, he knew that following the local customs was the fastest way to gain acceptance in a society.

As he put his sphere away, he wondered what Jenny thought of their relationship. He didn't think she was upset that they weren't married or worried about Scott's being born out of wedlock. He would have felt that. She must have had a hard time with her family, though, having her baby so long after the first Scott had died, and trying to explain young Scott's parentage. Paul felt a stab of regret at causing her so much trouble and leaving her to face it alone. Then his son sighed in his sleep and rolled over, and Paul knew that, despite all the problems, he and Jenny both were glad he had given her Scott. He remembered when he'd told Jenny he'd given her a baby that he'd offered to stop it if she didn't want it. Although he hadn't known about the problems she'd be facing by having the baby alone, she must have known what would happen. In spite of everything, she had still wanted his child. Tears threatened to overflow Paul's eyes as he thought of his beloved, brave Jenny, loving him and wanting to bear his child no matter what problems she faced. He reflected on her great courage in being willing to face whatever necessary, even separation from her baby, to do what was best for the child.

Paul walked quietly over to Scott's bed and pulled the covers up over his son's shoulders, gently tucking him in, then smoothed back Scott's rumpled hair. He loved this boy so much. He couldn't imagine life without him. Paul went back to bed, listening to the thunder rumbling off in the distance as the storm moved on, and settled down to sleep.  
  
---  
  
A news special was on a few nights later while Scott was studying and Paul was cleaning his camera and lenses.

"...fewer children born out of wedlock due to the rise of abortions," the narrator was saying as film of an abortion clinic was shown.

Paul's head snapped up as he heard this, his attention riveted to the screen. He watched the rest of the show avidly, soaking up information like a sponge, then sat and considered all he had heard. The narrator had talked about things like 'a throwaway society', 'irresponsible parents', 'welfare fraud', 'right-to-life groups', 'pro-choice groups'. There were so many topics covered, each only briefly touched upon, Paul was thoroughly confused. He looked over at Scott, who had stopped studying and was sitting quietly watching his father's reaction to the show.

"What did you think of that, Dad?" Scott asked gently. He could see his father was greatly disturbed by what he'd seen and heard.

"I don't know. I think I'm mostly confused about it. There are so many things they talked about that I don't understand." Paul ran his hand through his thick, dark hair, and sat deep in thought, biting his lip, with a frown creasing his handsome face. "Why do some people kill their babies, Scott?"

"I don't know. I don t understand a lot about that stuff either."

"That woman who said abortion was just cleaning out tissue was wrong. I knew when I gave you to your mother that you were alive, and strong, and would be a wise man who would teach your people about my people. I knew as soon as you were formed all about you, not because I started you, but because... I don t know how to explain this." He cupped his chin in his hand, biting his lip again and staring off into space as he tried to find the words he needed. "Scott, you have felt the sense of 'wrongness' as you called it, when you touched someone who was hurt. You understand that sense of 'knowing' from the experience, right?"

"Yes."

"That same sense of knowing came to me when I gave you to your mother. That's not a very good way to express what I mean, but you understand what I'm trying to say, don't you?" He waited as the boy nodded to see if he would say anything, but Scott seemed to be waiting for Paul to go on. "I knew all about you. I recreated Scott Hayden and Paul Forrester's bodies from a single cell from each of them. I knew all about each of their bodies once I'd learned how to read them. From a single cell this body was made. From your mother's cell and mine merging, a baby was formed, you Scott, just like every other human. When I told your mother I'd started you in her, I offered to stop you, if she didn't want you. She had told me she and her Scott wanted a baby and weren't able to have one. I wanted to do something to please her, so I gave her you. Since I had not asked her if she still wanted a baby before I gave you to her, thought I should give her a choice about having you." Paul shook his head in wonder at the difference time and experience had made in his life. "There's much I didn't understand then that I do now, especially about love. I didn't know then how much I would love you, Scott or what this kind of love was like. I'd just begun to understand a little about love between a man and a woman. I still had so much to about human emotions." He glanced up, a warm smile in his eyes as he looked at his son. "I'm glad she didn't want you stopped."

"Me, too," Scott said sincerely.

Paul shrugged, spread his hands and sighed as he said, "I just don't understand abortion, though. Humans know about love, even though some of them don't seem to know how to express it well. Humans know that cell is a baby, even if they don't want to admit it. If they don't want to have babies, why don't they do something to keep from having them, instead of letting a baby start? Why do they let it start, then want to kill it?" Paul was becoming more and more troubled as he spoke.

Scott went over and sat next to his dad, putting his arm around him, trying to comfort him. "Most people want their babies, and are careful about when they have them, from what I've heard. I guess some people just aren't as careful about keeping babies from starting. Not even all of those who are careless get abortions, though. Those that do...I don't really understand, or maybe I just can't accept their reasons for killing their babies once they've started. I've heard some of the reasons, and sometimes they seem to make some kind of sense, but only if you can make yourself forget that they're talking about a real baby. That's probably why they call it 'tissue' instead, so they won't have to think of it as being a person."

"What reason could anyone have for killing a baby?" Paul persisted.

Scott sighed deeply as he tried to think of the best way to explain. "If the woman was raped, or maybe if the baby was going to have a bad birth defect, or if she wasn't married and was ashamed of it, or something, or..." He stopped as his father looked quickly up at him when he talked about the woman not being married.

"To keep from having a baby 'born out of wedlock'? That's a reason for killing it?" Paul asked, horrified.

"Sometimes, I guess."

"But what about the father? Why doesn't he marry her? Doesn't he care about the baby?" Paul asked in obvious anguish.

"I just don't know. Some guys seem to think it makes them 'big men' or 'studs' or something to be with as many women as possible, and they don't take any responsibility for what happens. They have their fun, then take off."

"How can they not care about a part of themselves they've left behind?"

"What do you mean?"

"That baby is a part of the man too, not just a part of the woman. Just as you are part of me, Scott."

"I guess there are just some irresponsible people in the world, Dad. I can't explain it any other way," Scott sighed. "You know not all humans are like that. There are a lot of good people in the world, and almost everybody has some good in them. But some people seem to want to have their fun without having to pay the consequences, I guess. Maybe they've never grown up completely or something." He brightened a little as another thought occurred to him. "You know, though, not all women who get pregnant when they're not married have abortions. Sometimes they give the baby away for adoption instead, if they aren't able to take care of the baby themselves."

"There are some things I not only don't understand about your species, but I don't like them either, Scott. Children should be loved and cherished, not given away like unwanted kittens."

"The ones given away for adoption are loved, Dad. I think the mother probably loves the baby a lot to not kill it, but instead to give it to somebody who can take good care of it and love it, and raise it as their own child. Sometimes adoption is the only way some people can have children to love."

"Giving away a child. That would be so hard to do. I could never give you away, Scott."

"Mom did," Scott reminded him.

"Yes," Paul conceded, "and I know she did it because she loves you. I guess I can understand that part a little. I just can't seem to understand abortion." The realization that women in the position he'd left Jenny in, pregnant and unmarried, often aborted their babies, chilled Paul. If Jenny hadn't been strong, she might have killed their Scott. He hugged his son tightly, glad to have him near.

"I love you, Scott," he said softly.

"I love you too. Dad," Scott replied, holding his father tightly. He realized his father's gentle nature had been assaulted by the news program he'd seen, and he didn't know how to ease the pain he felt inside his father.

"Hey," Scott said, sitting back suddenly, "do you have a headache?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"I felt it! I'm getting better at this stuff, aren't I?"

Paul beamed proudly at his son. "Yes, you are. I guess I'd better fix it," he continued as he got out his sphere.

"Let me try, okay?" Scott knew his working to improve his abilities with the sphere was always an excellent distraction for Paul.

"Okay," Paul replied, relaxing against the back of the couch, watching intently as his son began trying to make him better. He smiled as Scott bit his lip in unconscious imitation of his father as he concentrated on activating the sphere.

"I'm ready. Are you?"

"Yes."

"Here goes!" Scott put his hand on Paul's head to check his progress, and concentrated on his sphere. The humming the sphere produced got louder, the light brighter. Suddenly, Scott's face lit up in triumph.

"There! Feel better?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, Scott, my headache's gone. Good job!" Paul responded with pleasure, patting Scott on the back. "Who needs a doctor with you around? Maybe you should be a doctor instead of a teacher. What do you think?" he said grandly.

"I don't think they'd let me practice medicine without a license, and I'm sure they wouldn't know how to license this kind of medicine!" Scott laughed.

As they got ready for bed, Scott glanced at his father in wonder at the depth of his love for a people not his own. Most humans seemed to care only for themselves, and possibly for a few people who were important to them. Paul cared for the human race with a depth of loving concern that was astounding. Scott knew his father's love for people caused Paul a great deal of pain when he saw things that were cruel or unjust, or incomprehensible, like war. Now Paul had another painful aspect of humankind to assimilate into his knowledge. Scott wondered what Paul's gentle people would think if they knew all Paul was learning about humans.  
  
---  
  
A few weeks later, in a different town, Paul came out of the library with a thoughtful look on his face. Scott met him at the corner.

"Been to the library, Dad? That's where I was going," Scott said.

"Yes. I've been reading about the history of some human customs. It was very interesting," Paul smiled.

"What did you learn?"

"Did you know that throwing rice at weddings is supposed to guarantee fertility for the couple? When they break the wine glass in a Jewish wedding, it's for the same thing." Paul looked proud of his new knowledge.

"Are you on that wedding kick again? I thought you got that out of your system," Scott replied uneasily. He had hoped his father would forget the whole thing, but knew that was a futile hope.

"I got curious and wanted to know more about it. You've told me to use the library because they can find out almost anything you want to know, and you were right! People throw birdseed at weddings now, so it isn't so messy to clean up. The birds come and eat the seeds instead of the janitor having to sweep up rice. Isn't that a good idea?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Scott conceded. "I guess I'd better get in there and get my studying done."

"Okay. See you at home."

Scott turned and watched his father walk cheerfully down the sidewalk. At least whatever Paul had learned this time hadn't upset him like the other things he'd been learning recently about weddings, babies and other human customs.  
  
---  
  
"Have some more pie, Scott. Isn't frozen food wonderful? Imagine! Dutch apple pie in an hour," Paul smiled as he put another forkful into his mouth.

"Well, it's not as good as Mom's, but it's nice to have it anyway," Scott agreed.

"Nothing we make or buy tastes as good as when Jenny makes it," Paul agreed. Their summer with Jenny outside of Dayton, Ohio, had spoiled their own cooking for them. Even if they tried to make things exactly the way she'd shown them, it just wasn't the same. They ate quietly for awhile, then Paul drew himself up as if he was about to make a great pronouncement.

"I've been thinking," he began.

"I've never known you not to be!" Scott teased.

"Thank you," Paul said sincerely.

Scott tried to stifle a sudden laugh.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I've been thinking, and I've decided something." Paul turned his gaze out the window, staring off into the distance.

"What's that?"

"I've decided to go to Mount Hawthorne."

Scott sat straight up in shock. To him, Mount Hawthorne only meant his dad's spacecraft. Surely Paul wasn't going to suddenly leave him! He nearly strangled on his pie as he asked, "Why?"

Paul suddenly noticed Scott's distress. "What's wrong, Scott?" he began, then realized what Scott must have thought. "No, son, I'm not going to Mount Hawthorne to leave you. Is that what you thought?"

Scott relaxed visibly, looking embarrassed at having leaped to such a wrong conclusion. "Well...kind of. Why do you need to go there?"

"I need to get some things from my spacecraft. I think it's probably time you saw it, anyway. Maybe you can learn something from it."

"Wow! Yeah, I'd love to see it! But I thought it was buried under tons of volcanic ash."

"It is, but I can get to it."

"How?"

"With the sphere. You'll see. We'll leave as soon as we get things taken care of here, okay?"

"Yeah! That will be really bad!"

"Bad! Why?" Paul asked, a perplexed look on his face.

"Dad, you remember that 'bad' means good now," Scott laughed.

"I never will understand teenagers' slang, I guess," Paul sighed.

"Welcome to the world," Scott answered with a grin.

"Thank you!" Paul responded with a slight bow and a broad smile.  
  
---  
  
"You walked out of here carrying a man? What a trip that must have been!" Scott panted as they trudged up a steep ravine beside the mountain. The landscape around them was surrealistic, blasted, seared and devastated beyond belief by the awesome power of the volcano's eruption.

"He needed help. I couldn't leave him," Paul answered reasonably.

"What did you do with him?"

"I found a farm house down there," Paul answered, pointing to a valley in the distance beyond them, "and left him on the porch. I sat him by the door and rang the bell, then used the sphere to turn on the lights so they'd be sure and get up."

"I bet they freaked out at that!" Scott laughed„

"I didn't stay around to find out. I knew where you were, and I wanted to get to you as quickly as possible, so I left the man on the porch when I was sure someone was moving in the house."

Scott looked at his father in admiration. To even walk out of these mountains while a volcano was erupting was hard enough, and Paul had carried an unconscious man to a safe place as well. Scott wanted to tell his dad he was proud to have a hero as a father, but knew Paul wouldn't understand why rescuing the man was heroic, so said nothing.

They walked on in silence for a long time. Suddenly, Paul said, "Here's where I found Paul Forrester s body and the injured pilot."

"How can you tell? It's all sort of smooth now, no sign of a helicopter or anything."

"Paul Forrester's body and the helicopter he was in are under the volcanic ash, just a few feet in front of you, Scott, but buried deeply. I know they're there, that's all."

Scott warily skirted the edge of the area Paul indicated as the last resting place of the first Paul Forrester. They continued on until they came to a secluded canyon a few miles from where Forrester's helicopter had crashed.

"This is it," Paul said with satisfaction.

"Where's the ship?" Scott asked.

"It's here. I'll show you."

Paul seemed happier than Scott had seen him since his mother had been forced to leave them again. Scott's eyes widened in amazement as his father activated the sphere and began to form a kind of whirlwind of volcanic ash. It was like a small tornado, but soundless and contained, not causing any damage or making the trees blow.

"How are you doing that?" he asked in quiet wonder.

"I told you before, it's all in the wrist!" Paul laughed. "Actually, it's like a vacuum."

"A vacuum cleaner?"

"Kind of, I guess. I hadn't thought if it that way, but I guess you're right. I'm containing the ash so it won't cause any more damage, and so I'll be able to put it back when we're through. We're almost down to my spacecraft now," he continued with satisfaction.

Scott stared in awe as the spacecraft emerged from the dust. It was silver and round like their spheres, with a narrow deck-like area around it halfway down the side of the craft from the top. The deck came to a long point in the front, like the bow of a ship. There was no apparent door or hatch to enter the craft, nor were there any exterior lights or windows, as Scott had expected there to be. It was about fifteen feet long and about five feet high. Scott walked around the craft as his father deposited the volcanic ash neatly to one side of his excavation, hidden back under the rocky ledge.

"What do you think?" Paul asked with a broad grin. "Would that make a great sports car or what?"

Scott looked at his dad, his face still filled with amazement, then he burst into laughter at his father's smug expression. "I'm going to have to watch my slang around you! 'A great sports car or what'. Grief!" He looked from his father to the spacecraft and gave a low whistle. "In some ways I still had trouble believing all this was real, but now... This is incredible! Can I touch it?"

"Sure. It's made of the same material as our spheres. You won't find a door in it. I'll have to open it for you when you're ready." Paul was careful not to rush Scott, knowing the boy had a lot of adjustments to make in his thinking. Paul had thought seeing his ship might be a shock in some ways to his son, and he wanted Scott to have all the time he needed to become comfortable with everything he was learning. He watched his son reach out to the spacecraft tentatively, then gently run his hand along its gleaming skin. He smiled as Scott's face lit up with a kind of reverence and a glimmer of understanding. "Dad?"

"Yes, Scott?"

"Is the spacecraft a part of you like the sphere is?"

"In a way."

"I thought so. I could feel it."

"You could?" Paul was very pleased to hear this. He hadn't thought Scott's abilities had developed to that extent yet.

"Yes. It has the same kind of...what you've called a resonance, like when we're searching for each other with our spheres, and you can feel the resonance of the other sphere responding to the searching one."

"That's very good, Scott! I didn't think you would be ready to sense that by touching the spacecraft. Maybe you can open it yourself. Why don't you try?"

"How do I do it?"

"Touch the ship, and picture in your mind an opening in the front, just above the deck there." Paul waited as Scott tried to use his developing powers on the spacecraft. He heard a soft humming sound and saw a shimmer appear on the front of the ship, then disappear.

Scott groaned in disgust. "I thought I had it there for a minute. What do I do now?"

"Try again, and don't be distracted by the shimmer. It just means you're beginning to get it," Paul answered with an encouraging smile.

Scott screwed his face up in concentration so hard, Paul had to smile. The humming was slightly louder as the shimmer reappeared at the front of the ship, then a dark line appeared around the edges of the shimmer. The line became more solid-looking, and a rectangle became defined on the surface of the craft. Scott's concentration was broken by his delight in what he had accomplished so far.

"Wow! Look at that, Dad!" he cried excitedly.

"It's not open yet, though, Scott," Paul reminded him gently. "How are we going to get in?"

"Oh." Scott seemed deflated. "I can't seem to get any farther than this, though. I tried as hard as I could."

"I wasn't sure whether you would be able to or not. The spacecraft is tuned to my signal, and shouldn't open for anyone else. I thought I'd let you try so we could see what happened. It might have worked, since you're my son, and our signals are very similar."

"They are?" Scott asked in surprise.

"Of course. You're my son. The signals you and I send out when we use our spheres or other powers would show one of my people that we are related. It's kind of like a family resemblance."

"You never told me about that before."

"The subject never came up, I guess. You did very well, Scott. I'm proud of you!" Paul patted his son fondly on the back, then touched the craft lightly. The humming sound suddenly increased until it seemed the ship was singing, and the door opened quickly, startling Scott.

"Wow," Scott breathed. "Is it safe for me to look inside?"

Paul squeezed Scott's shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay, it won't hurt you. There are no poison gases in there or anything else that can harm you. You watch too many science fiction movies!"

"Yeah, I guess I do," Scott said, his voice cracking with nervousness. He hesitantly approached the side of the ship behind his father, looking over Paul's shoulder into the open doorway. "Do you want to get in?" Paul asked.

"Could I? Total badness!" Scott said excitedly.

"Badness?" Paul repeated in momentary confusion, then his face cleared in understanding. "Oh, yes. Totally bad," he agreed with a smile.

Scott grinned at his dad, then climbed up on the deck of the ship, peering inside. "Will I fit, though? It looks kind of small inside," he said doubtfully. The darkened interior of the craft appeared to be full of equipment, with little room for passengers.

"You must have forgotten that I don't take up very much room in my natural form," Paul laughed. "You'll fit if you don t wiggle too much." He climbed up and carefully got into the spacecraft. When Paul entered the craft, a bright glow appeared inside, not from any light fixtures, but from the walls themselves, the glow looking exactly like their spheres. The control panels sparkled in the blue glow as if in readiness for flight. Paul smiled as he looked around his ship, gently touching things here and there as if greeting an old friend, or coming home after a long absence. "Okay, son, your turn," Paul said as he climbed out.

"It acts like it knows you," Scott said as he hesitated about getting in.

"It does know me. It's part of me. When I touched it, I didn't have to ask for the door to be opened. It knew what I wanted, just like it knew to turn everything on when I got inside. It may not obey you, since it isn't tuned to you, even though our signals are so similar, but it won't hurt you either. Go ahead and get in," Paul said encouragingly.

"What is all this stuff?" Scott asked glancing around the interior of the spacecraft as he cautiously settled himself in the center of the floor. He was surrounded by what appeared to be quartz crystals in various sizes, shapes and colors, although most of them were differing shades of blue ranging from palest aquamarine to deepest sapphire. There were instrument panels surprisingly similar to those he'd seen in some space adventure movies, but there were no handles, knobs or buttons of any kind. There were no windows, chairs or beds, no viewing screens, and no food supplies that Scott could see. For the first time he truly understood how very alien his father's natural body must be. He looked at Paul in awe.

"Can you still fly this thing?" he asked. "I mean, can Paul Forrester fly it? There aren't any controls for hands or anything, and no view screens that I can see, and... Boy, do I sound dopey or what?" He shook his head in amazement.

Paul chuckled. "There aren't any view screens because, since it is a part of me, I can see through it in a way. I don't know how to explain that any better. Paul Forrester couldn't fly this 'thing', as you call it, but I can, even though this body's survival needs would limit how long the flight could be. The ship isn't damaged at all. The problem is there's no provision for oxygen, for food supplies that humans would need, or for disposal of bodily wastes. There also isn't any furniture humans would find comfortable. I'm sorry I can't take you for a ride. If I did, the Air Force would probably shoot us down. That wouldn't be much fun for either of us, so I guess this old ship will have to stay on the ground for a while longer." He patted his ship fondly. "We've been many miles together. It's good to see it survived the volcano's eruption intact."

"I guess this ship to you is kind of like a cowboy's horse is to him, huh?"

"Yes, but I don't sing 'Happy Trails to You' while I'm flying it!" Paul laughed. He began pointing out various features of the craft to his son, who drank in all the information he could comprehend. Paul was surprised and pleased at how quickly Scott grasped some of the things he was trying to explain.

As the late afternoon shadows lengthened and the air cooled, Paul said, "I'd better get to work on what I came to do while there's still plenty of light. I don't want us to be here tomorrow. The satellite photos of this area may show a disturbance in the land formation from the pile of ash, and I don't want us to get caught."

"But, Dad, they'll find the ship if they can see that stuff from the satellite photos!" Scott said in alarm.

"They may not see it. I hid my spacecraft under this ledge of rock deliberately, and the pile of ash is fairly well hidden under it also. I just don't want to take a chance. I'll cover the ship again before we leave, so it will look like it's never been disturbed," Paul replied reassuringly.

"Why did we come here, if it wasn't just to show me the ship?"

"I have to make something, and the materials I need are in the ship," Paul replied with a mysterious smile. "Come on out of there so I can get what I need. You can get back in and look around some more while I'm working."

Scott got out and watched his father climb into the ship, then carefully fold his long legs under him as he sat on the floor. It was apparent Paul was trying not to jar anything with his body, which was so cramped in the small space there was little room to move. Scott saw him point at the wall, which caused a panel to open. Paul removed some small bits of metal and crystal, closed the panel, then climbed out of the ship with his hands full.

"Okay, you can get back in now if you want to," Paul said as he moved away from the ship a short distance, examining the articles in his hands with a smile as he went.

"What are you going to make?" Scott asked, following him.

"Something special, but I'm not sure yet how to make it, so I'll probably have to experiment a little before I get it right."

"What's it going to be?"

"You'll see," Paul grinned mischievously. "You can use your sphere to light up the interior of the ship, if you want. Or, if you want to try it, the interior will glow on its own for you, like it did for me, if you ask it nicely!" Paul joked, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Right! I can just hear me saying, 'Ship, oh, ship, pretty please will you glow for me?' Come on, Dad, where's the light switch?" Scott laughed.

"Inside you. Go figure it out. You can't hurt anything if you sit still. The ship won't allow you to harm it, and your powers aren't strong enough yet to do any real damage. It's your feet I'm worried about!" Paul teased.

Scott playfully punched his dad in the shoulder, then climbed into the ship, sitting carefully in the center of the floor as he had before. He began trying to make the ship's interior light up for him, surprising himself greatly by succeeding, then became lost in wonder at the amazing things he'd seen and learned that day.

Paul worked over the metal and bits of crystal with his sphere for quite a long time, finally getting the results he'd hoped for. He smiled with satisfaction and pocketed the article he'd made, then headed for the ship.

"Scott! I'm done, let's go," he called.

"Can't we stay just a little longer, Dad? There's so much to look at, and so many things I want you to explain to me, and..."

"We really should be going, son," Paul said regretfully.

"Okay," Scott said with a sigh, getting ready to get out.

"Wait a minute. I know something you'd enjoy seeing that won't take long to show you. Sit still a second." Paul, still standing outside the ship, leaned in the doorway, reached past his son's shoulder and pointed at a large blue crystal, then a small yellow one. The blue crystal lit up like a hologram, with bits of light seeming to float inside it.

"Whoa! What is that?" Scott exclaimed.

"That's a star chart I made of this end of your galaxy. I told you I was a map maker. Watch this," Paul said as he pointed at the yellow crystal again. The lights seemed to zoom toward Scott, who flinched in reaction. Paul smiled, patting Scott's arm reassuringly. "It's okay, I won't let 'em get ya! " he teased. "Those are stars on the edge of what you call the Milky Way. We're seeing them as they appeared to me as I moved through them toward Earth. I mapped this out a long time before I came to Earth the first time, and it's in all the spacecraft of my people as a map of this part of the universe. Now we're reaching the edge of your solar system." Paul pointed out the various planets and their moons, the asteroid belts he'd passed, the space junk, Earth's moon, and the beautiful blue of Earth itself. Each planet and star on the map was shown as a hologram, in color and three dimensions, with astounding detail. Even the motion of the various rotations and orbits of the planets, their moons and Earth's manmade satellites were represented.

Scott sat quietly, marveling at the wonders he was being shown, respect and awe for his father's abilities overwhelming him. He looked at his dad as Paul continued to explain what was being displayed, and saw the joy lighting up Paul's face as he shared his life's work with his son. When Paul deactivated the crystals and stretched his cramped muscles outside the ship, Scott asked him the question that always troubled him.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you want to go back?"

"You know my place is with you, Scott. I've told you that many times before. I love you, and I want to take care of you," Paul looked fondly at his son. "Watching you grow up is more exciting and interesting than mapping the stars, son."

Scott looked upset as he got out of the ship. "But that s so... so... I don't know what to call it, but, Dad, you were mapping the stars! You were traveling all over, wherever you wanted, free as a bird!"

"I know."

"Don't you want that again?" Scott asked, reaching out to touch the ship.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No! But it's so unfair..."

"Who said life was fair, Scott? I'm happy with you. We travel all over the place, and if we wanted to, we could make maps of our travels, but the triple A people seem to have done it already!" he joked, cuffing Scott's arm affectionately, trying to ease his distress. Seeing Scott was still upset, Paul put his arms around his son and hugged him warmly. "I loved that life, but I love being with you too. Stop worrying so much." He straightened up and looked at the darkening sky. "If you want to look inside the ship again, you'll have to hurry. I want to get it covered so we can leave."

When Scott was through exploring the ship, Paul closed the hatch with a touch, then stood a moment with his hand on his ship, looking at it thoughtfully. He got out his sphere and moved the ash back over the ship, as neatly as he had removed it, until there was no trace of a disturbance in the landscape at all. He and Scott shouldered their duffle bags and started back down the mountain.

Scott's mind was so full of the wonders he'd witnessed that day, he never did remember to ask his father what it was he'd needed to make. It wasn't until a few months later that he discovered what it was, and why Paul had made it.  
  
---  
  
"Have you had any luck, Liz?" Paul asked anxiously. He was speaking to Liz Baynes over the phone, checking on her progress on something he'd asked her to do for him.

"Yes, finally, Paul. Go to Las Vegas and call me from there. I'll set things up for you." Liz sounded triumphant. She'd been trying to fulfill Paul's request for several months now.

"Las Vegas. Okay, I'll call you from there. I can't thank you enough, Liz," he said warmly.

"Yes, you can. You just did. Enjoy! Keep in touch."

"I will. Bye, Liz."

"Bye."

 

"Have you got a job in Vegas, Dad?" Scott asked eagerly as they boarded the bus.

"I have something to do there, let's say," Paul responded.

"O-ho! Mysterious today, aren't we?" Scott teased. "I bet you just got the gambling bug again!"

"No, Scott, I'll never gamble again. That's too dangerous," Paul replied seriously.

"I know. I was just kidding."

"Uh-huh. You forgot to wiggle your eyebrows!"

"Why are we going, though?"

"Liz said to. That's all I can tell you."

"Then it is a job of some kind."

"I have something to do there, as I said. I'm going to sleep now. Good night, Scott."

"Great way to avoid answering the question, Dad!" Scott retorted.

Paul responded with a huge, obviously fake snore. Scott elbowed him in the ribs.

"Cut that out, you'll get us thrown off the bus," Scott said with a grin,

Paul chuckled quietly, keeping his eyes closed, crossing his arms more comfortably across his chest, and settling deeper into the seat cushions. He soon drifted off into real sleep.

Scott settled down to sleep too, wondering about all the secrets his father had been enjoying lately. Paul seemed to be pleased with keeping his secrets to himself and letting Scott wonder. Scott hoped he'd find out soon what was going on. Not knowing was going to drive him crazy, he thought.  
  
---  
  
"Dad, this is weird. Why are we hanging around this chapel? Are you supposed to shoot somebody's wedding sometime soon?"

"No, I'm just curious. We've never actually seen a complete wedding. I wanted to see if they're like the ones I've seen on TV."

"I somehow doubt anything in Vegas is at all like the way things are in the real world, or even in television-land," Scott said sarcastically.

"Shhhh. Things are starting," Paul warned.

They quietly observed several of the weddings performed in the little chapel just outside Las Vegas. They were surprised at how quickly each ceremony was over, and how soon the next one was started.

"I can see why so many marriages end in divorce," Scott commented dryly.

"Why?" Paul wondered.

"These people are saying their vows so fast, I don't think they're listening to what they're saying. Some of them seem to be just a little drunk, too." Scott looked disgusted. "I told you nothing here would be like the real world."

"Yes, not all the couples seem really sincere when they say those things, do they? Maybe if they said something they felt, instead of repeating what they're told to say, they'd mean it more."

"Maybe." Scott sounded doubtful.

"I've seen enough. Let's go," Paul said, matching his action to his words by rising from his seat and heading for the door.

"Can't be too soon for me!" Scott agreed, following him.  
  
---  
  
Late one night, several days after the excursion to the wedding chapel, Paul and Scott heard a soft tapping on their motel room door. They exchanged a cautious glance, then Paul looked out the peephole in the door.

"Did you order a pizza delivery or something, Scott?" he asked.

"No. Who's there?"

"This peephole's not very good. I guess we'll just have to open it and see," Paul continued as the tapping was repeated, more insistently this time.

Scott looked curiously at his father. He couldn't figure out why Paul had such a strange expression on his face.

Paul opened the door, then smiled as he swung it wide so Scott could see their caller.

"Mom!" Scott cried in surprise.

"Oof!" Jenny grunted as Paul pulled her suddenly to him. "Hi, there, Handsome Stranger," she laughed, kissing him soundly. "You sure have a sweet way of answering the door!" she teased as she snuggled happily into Paul's joyous embrace. She looked up into his radiant face and her heart turned over inside her with love for him. He gave her a big, smoochy, silly kiss and let her go hug Scott while he got her bags from outside the door.

"He didn't tell you I was coming, did he?" Jenny asked her son as they held onto each other in a delighted welcoming embrace.

"No. He's been full of secrets for a couple of months now, and I couldn't get anything out of him. He's learned to be devious as well as slick! I don't know what we're going to do with him," Scott laughed.

"I guess we'll just have to love him, won't we?" Jenny replied with a laugh of her own.

"I guess. It's so good to see you, Mom. Where have you been? What have you been doing? How did you and Dad get hold of each other? Why did you..."

"Whoa, Scott, one thing at a time! I'll answer all your questions, just slow down a little!" Jenny answered with a smile as she pushed Scott's hair away from his eyes. "You both need haircuts. That's normal. You guys look terrific! It is so wonderful to be together again!" Jenny reached out for Paul and hugged both of her men to her. Paul and Scott held on to her for a long time.  
  
---  
  
"...so, I called Liz to see how you guys were doing. She stopped me as soon as she heard who it was. I used one of my other names, but she knows them now. I gave her a list when she and I met in Chicago. She had me call a safe phone later — boy, was arranging that complicated! Liz has several plans worked out to avoid Fox, and, if they're all as good as the one we used that time, they must all be terrific. She is one smart lady. She's had to be — Fox has really been on her case ever since we left Dayton. I guess he found out she helped us get together before. Anyway, when I was finally able to talk with her, and she told me your dad needed to see me right away, I was afraid something was terribly wrong! Liz told me you were both fine, but that your dad had said it was urgent that I meet with him. It was tough making sure all the arrangements stayed secret, but she worked it out, and here I am!" Jenny said, finishing her explanation to Scott. She turned to Paul, who had been sitting quietly next to her on the couch with his arm around her, listening to her story. "Okay, Paul, I'm here, and I'm so glad to see you both! But what was so urgent?"

"I learned something a few months ago that showed me I had made a terrible mistake, and I had to make it right. I've studied the problem as much as I can, and I've come up with a solution, but I needed you with me so I could correct it." He smiled mischievously at Jenny.

"What kind of mistake could you have made that you'd need me to help correct?" Jenny wondered. Her eyes widened in shock, and Scott tried to stifle a laugh, as Paul slid off the sofa and got down on one knee in front of her, holding her hand in both of his. "Paul, what on earth are you doing?"

"I'm doing the right thing on Earth, that's what. I'm going to make an honest woman of you, Jenny Hayden," he replied seriously.

Jenny laughed. "An honest woman? Whatever are you talking about?"

Scott smiled proudly at his dad. "So this is what all the mystery has been about. Nice going, Dad!"

"Thank you," Paul replied, inclining his head in a slight bow. He turned back to Jenny. "Jenny, stop laughing, this is serious!"

She tried to curb her laughter, then looked deeply into his warm blue eyes and she quieted, awed by the depth of love she saw there.

"Jenny, when I came to this planet I didn't know anything about love, or any other emotions. You taught me so much in just three days. I wanted to thank you, and to give you something special to remember me by, something that would make you happy. I thought I was giving you a good gift by giving you a son. I'm not sorry I gave you Scott, and I know you aren't either. I know you love him, and have willingly put up with the problems you have been faced with because you had to have him alone. I didn't understand then the problems I was leaving you with. I'm sorry I was gone so long, and that you had to go through so much without me here to help you."

Jenny started to say something, but he put his hand on her lips, hushing her.

"I didn't understand Earth's customs and practices then. I'm still learning about them every day. I know now I should have married you legally a long time ago, to save you from the problems of having a baby by yourself. I wish I had known that then. I could have come back sooner, and cloned a more permanent body at that time, if I had known. I want to make things right, now that I understand. Will you marry me?"

Jenny sat in stunned silence for a long moment. "Paul, I don't know what to say," she began.

"Make it simple, Mom. Say yes," Scott urged.

"Yes," Jenny said. "I love you!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck and sat close to him on the floor.

"I love you too, Jenny," he answered, holding her tenderly.

Jenny looked up suddenly. "Paul, I need to know something."

"What?"

She hesitated a moment, then asked slowly, "How long are we going to be married? Are you going to leave when Scott is grown?"

"No, Jenny," he answered gently. "I'm here to stay."

She fell sobbing on his neck, holding him tightly. He stroked her back tenderly until she quieted.

"Jenny," Paul said softly, "we'll have to be married a different way than most people. I hope that's all right with you."

"Why should we do things the way everyone else does?" she laughed through her tears. "We're not the same as they are."

"We'll have to make up our own vows," Paul said.

"I think that's a lovely idea, Paul. Why do you say we have to, though?"

"Because I don't want the 'til death do us part' line in there that way. I don't think you and Scott understand my natural body very well. If no accidents happen to this body, when it gets old, I can leave it and clone another, younger body so I can watch Scott's children and grandchildren grow, and help teach them about the nature some of them may inherit from me. I can do this for several generations. I wasn't considered old on my planet, and I can live for several of your lifetimes here, if I replace the body I'm using as it ages. If Paul Forrester's body ages too fast, you might find yourself married to a man much younger than yourself. Could you accept that?"

Jenny sat back and stared at Paul for a long moment, then looked at Scott. She could see from Scott's expression that he and his father must have discussed the subject before.

"Scott, do you understand this?" she asked.

"Yes. Dad told me he could clone another body sometime after I'm grown. It takes him several years to build up enough energy to do it again, but he could do it lots of times, probably. We've talked about it before."

She turned back to Paul, studying his gentle face for a few moments as she considered the impact of what he'd told her. "Paul, no matter how young or old you are, no matter what your name is or what you look like — I'll take you any way I can have you. You should know that by now." They kissed and held each other for a long time. "I just hope you can stand me when I'm an old woman!"

Paul laughed and hugged her tightly. "I'll take you any way I can have you, too, Jenny Hayden. I love you."

"I love you, too." She snuggled her head into the curve of his shoulder and leaned comfortably against him."

Scott went to bed, leaving them talking about their plans. He was happier than he had been since they had had to leave their home in Dayton.  
  
---  
  
"So this is the famous Mount Hawthorne," Jenny said. "It's incredible!"

"Yes, it is amazing, isn't it?" Paul replied. He, Jenny and Scott were going back to the spot where the ship was hidden. Paul still had some secrets he was obviously enjoying keeping from his family. Scott and Jenny would try to get him to tell them what he was up to and he'd just shrug and grin at them devilishly, relishing some private idea he apparently thought they would like. Scott and Jenny would just roll their eyes and laugh in exasperation when they were unable to weasel the secrets out of him.

When they reached the canyon where the spacecraft was hidden, Paul quickly removed the ash from the ship with his sphere. Jenny was as awe-struck by the spacecraft as Scott had been. Paul didn't allow her the luxury of time to look at it, though. He had other things in mind.

"Both of you stand over there, on the other side of the canyon. I've never done this before on Earth, and I'm not sure how it's going to work," Paul said.

"What are you going to do?" Jenny asked, a worried frown creasing her pretty face.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll be careful. It's something I have to do, and I want both of you a safe distance away so I don't have to worry about you. Go on, now."

Jenny and Scott moved across the canyon, and turned concerned eyes on Paul.

"I'm going to make a bright light. Don't look directly at it, okay? You can look at the results, but not at the light. I'm afraid it might hurt your eyes."

"Okay, Paul, we understand," Jenny answered. She and Scott watched in wonder as Paul touched the spacecraft, opening the hatch, and disappeared inside it. He stood up from inside the ship and glanced at the surrounding landscape, and up at the sky.

"I'm glad it's cloudy today. I can't create an illusion big enough to cover this area and do what I need to do here at the same time. That would require too much energy. Maybe the satellite photos will miss us. I'm sure the Air Force would be interested in this!" he said with an impish grin just before he ducked inside the spacecraft again.

Jenny and Scott exclaimed in surprise as the ship suddenly lifted off the ground, moved out from under the rocky ledge and turned so the nose was pointing directly at the canyon wall. They could hear the humming sound it made across the canyon floor. Jenny clutched Scott's arm nervously as the humming increased in intensity.

"Don't worry. Mom," Scott reassured her. "Dad won't let anything hurt us."

"I know that, Scotty. It's just..."

"I know. It's awesome."

"Yes, that's it, I guess. Awesome."

They held onto each other in silence, watching the ship tensely. They jumped suddenly in surprise as a bright blue beam shot out of the nose of the ship's deck, hitting the canyon wall.

"Outasight, Dad! Whoa!" Scott exclaimed in delight.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know. That looks like the beam he used to destroy the computers at Peagrum Air Force Base, only this one's a lot bigger. It was kind of like a laser, he told me."

They watched in wonder as a large hole appeared in the canyon wall. The canyon was a cut in the side of Mount Hawthorne, and the hole Paul was creating was in the base of the volcano itself. The space widened and deepened, and filled with blue light as Paul directed the beam in different directions, shaping the hole the way he wanted. The beam was switched off as suddenly as it had been switched on. The ship turned back in the direction it had been facing originally, and settled softly to the ground. Paul got out with some crystals in his hands and entered the space he'd formed.

"What's he got in his hands, Scotty?"

"Crystals from inside the ship, but I don't know what they do. He showed me one of his star maps on a big blue crystal. It was like a hologram, and it felt like I was flying through the stars and planets he was showing me. He used a yellow crystal to turn on the star map crystal. I don't know what any of the others are for." They waited where they were for Paul to emerge from the cave he'd created. After several minutes had passed, he appeared in the cave's entrance.

"It's ready. Come on!" Paul encouraged.

Jenny and Scott walked eagerly over to see Paul's handiwork. When they entered the cavern, their mouths dropped open in astonishment. From a plain, rock-filled hole Paul had created a wonderland of beauty. The walls were lined with multicolored crystals, and the room had a rainbow-colored glow about it. The floor and ceiling were clear, light blue crystal. There was a small waterfall flowing into a tiny stream in one corner of the room. The air smelled as fresh as a meadow after a refreshing rainfall, and felt as invigorating as a spring morning. Paul had somehow created a whole atmosphere of beauty and serenity out of a havoc of volcanic ash and rubble.

"Oh, Paul," Jenny breathed. "It's gorgeous!"

"Wow," Scott whispered.

"Come into my parlor," Paul invited mischievously.

"Parlor. Right, Dad," Scott retorted playfully. "Get serious!"

"Okay, I will. This, my dear Jenny and my dear Scott, is an illusion that represents, as closely as possible, what our homes are like on my world. I threw in some of the things I love about Earth, too, like the waterfall. The stream was here inside the mountain, and I just made a place for it to go and not flood the cavern floor. I've often told Scott that water is one of the things I love most about this planet. I also love the scent of the land after a good rain, so I put that in here too. I don't really have the materials at hand to show how our homes appear much better than this, but I wanted to show you something of my world while I had the chance. Besides, I wanted our wedding to be exceptional, and this was the best way I could think of to make it truly special for both of you."

"It's special, all right," Scott answered. Jenny remained speechless.

Paul moved to Jenny and took her hand. "Are you ready to marry me now, Jenny?" he asked seriously.

"Oh, yes," she answered eagerly. "What do we do first? Is this how people get married on your planet?"

"We don't get married the way you do. We merge our energies, kind of like nuclear fusion, I guess. The energy released by the fusion creates new life forms, kind of like having children. We don't do that until we're near the end of our lifespan, though, so we don't overcrowd our planet. That's why I haven't been 'married' yet at home. I'm only in the middle of my lifespan, and not considered old enough to fuse with another. We spend most of our lives learning. Then, when we've created our successors, we spend the rest of our lives teaching them what we know. We're not so different in a lot of ways. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Jenny replied.

"Scott? Do you understand?" Paul asked his son.

"Yes, I think I do," Scott answered.

"Good! Then let's get on with it. I've waited too long to get married here, and I'm ready to begin." He smiled down at Jenny as he pulled her into his arms.

"Me too," Jenny laughed gaily.

Paul pulled out his sphere and created a whirling blue light that enveloped the interior of the cavern, and gave an illusion of the natural canyon wall on the outside. "This will protect us from prying eyes for a while," he said with a smile, indicating the circling blue light which surrounded him, Jenny and Scott.

"Jenny Hayden, I love you," Paul began, serious now. Jenny looked up at him soberly as he continued. "I can't tell you how you have enriched my life with your love, with all the things you've taught me, and with Scott. I've studied your Earth customs about marriage, and, as Scott told me, we have to promise things to each other, and when we've promised enough, we'll be married." He smiled down into Jenny's eyes as he reached up to push her long wavy hair back from her face. His fingertips slowly traced the line of her jaw, then the sweet curve of her lips. "Jenny, when I was here before, you taught me that love is when you care more for someone else than you do for yourself. You also told me that love is when someone is a part of you. You, Jenny, and you, Scott...you are both a part of me." He paused, gazing fondly at their son, then turned back to Jenny. "Other cultures use different expressions to show their love for each other. They don't fit into English very well for normal speaking, but some of them seem right for this occasion. Jenny Hayden, you are the heart of my heart, you are starlight and moonbeams, warm sunshine and soft refreshing rain, life and breath to me. I have come across the stars to find you, and I won't ever let you go. Even when we have to be apart, you are always held closely in the center of my spirit. My natural being will always be yours, no matter which body it is in, no matter where it exists. I will do my best to take care of you and Scott, to protect you and provide for you, no matter what happens. I will do my best to show you always how much I love and cherish you. I want to share my life with you, Jenny Hayden. All of my being is yours. I want us to finish raising our son together. I want us to enjoy watching our grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up and develop into fine, caring people, who will somehow benefit their fellow man. Somehow, someday I hope we will find peace and be able to make a normal life together. Even if we never find that peace, though, everything I have or ever will have is yours. I love you, Jenny Hayden. I want us to be a family." He took her face ever so gently in his hands, leaned down and softly kissed away the tears streaming from Jenny's eyes. "Your turn, my love," he said with a smile, putting his arms around her waist again.

"Oh, Paul, I don't know where to begin!" Jenny cried. Her fingers plucked nervously at the fabric of his shirt front as she tried to gather her thoughts, then she smoothed the material and slid her hands around his neck, stroking the silky darkness of his hair. "I love you, Paul. It seems I always have. I'm still in awe of who you really are, and where you're from. I find it so hard to believe that, out of all the universe, you found me...and loved me. You're the gentlest person I've ever known, and the wisest, yet you're brave and strong too. I've seen you give life back to a dead deer. You saved the life of your greatest enemy, and never let him know it so he'd stop chasing you. You've willingly offered to sacrifice your own safety, even your life, to protect mine and Scott's. You understand the true meaning of love more than anyone I've ever heard of. Even when you're mistreated by people, you never criticize. You accept things and people as they are, and you care for all life forms in a way humans will never understand. You know things I'll never comprehend, but you are so eager to learn, like a little child who finds the world new and exciting with the dawn of each new day. You're funny and endearing, and so precious to me. You're all my heart has ever desired in a man and more...so much more. You fill my heart with a warm glow like sunshine, and make me feel so loved and cherished. I never thought love could be like this except in fantasy, but you've made all my fantasies real." She paused and turned to look at their son. "I'm so glad you gave me Scotty. I don't care about the hardships I've gone through because of having to have him alone. He is worth everything I've gone through and more. I love him more than my life, and I thank you for giving him to me. He's special, like you, and the world is so lucky to have him. It's an honor to be his mother." She smiled at Scott warmly for a moment. When she turned back to Paul, she gazed deeply into his blue eyes and put her hand softly on his cheek. "You are so dear to me, Paul, words just can't express how much I love you. I will always cherish you and love you, and do my best to take care of you and Scotty. Everything I have, or will have, everything I am or will be, is yours. I have always, and will always hold you in the center of my soul. Even when we've been apart, I've always felt the warmth of your love, even when nobody else believed you existed. I knew...I knew. With each setting of the sun, I would go look for your star and pray that one day I'd see you again. You have given up your home, your freedom, the life you had expected to live... You've given up the stars...for Scott...and for me. No one has ever been loved like that before. I know I don t deserve that kind of sacrifice...that kind of love. I wish there were some way to show you, to tell you, how much you mean to me, but I don't know how to do that. All I can do is give you all of myself, all of my love, and hope that you'll understand. No, I don't even have to hope you'll understand. I know you will." She stood smiling into his eyes a moment. "Thank, you for caring enough to come back for Scott and me. I love you, Paul." She laid her head on his shoulder, savoring the warmth of his arms.

"Scott, have we promised enough?" Paul asked his son seriously.

"I think so Dad. You sound married to me," Scott said soberly.

"There's still one more thing to do," Paul said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out his hand, holding it closed over something. "Jenny, in all the wedding's I've studied, there is always one other thing done."

"What's that, Paul?" she asked curiously.

"Hold out your hand," he said, taking her left hand in his. "Jenny Hayden, with this ring, I thee wed," he intoned, slipping a ring on her finger. The wide band was silver-colored, formed like delicate lace made of many tiny nuggets joined together. Set in the ring so the length Of the stone followed the length of her finger was a beautiful, multi—faceted clear sky-blue stone shaped like a quartz crystal, pointed at each end, with rainbows shimmering inside it.

"Oh, Paul, it's beautiful! Is it a blue topaz? I love them!" Jenny cried delightedly.

"No, it's a crystal from my home, and the band is made of the same metal as our spheres. Does it fit all right? I can fix it if it doesn't."

"It's perfect! And you made it for me. Oh, Paul, it's so beautiful, and you making it makes it even more special. Thank you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"So that's what you were making!" Scott chuckled. "Nice job, Dad."

"Scott, are we married now?" Paul asked.

"Yep. By the authority vested in me as a resident of this planet and a star-child by natural birth, I now pronounce you Starman and wife! You may kiss your bride," Scott announced grandly, a broad grin lighting up his face.

Paul and Jenny gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, then kissed long and tenderly.

Scott decided it was time for him to take a walk in the mountains, and left quietly. As he left, the whirling blue light closed the cavern from his view, making the canyon wall appear totally natural from the outside, with a slight bulge in the line of the wall where the blue light also protected the spacecraft from prying eyes.

"Where did Scott go?" Paul asked Jenny when they parted.

"I think our wise young son has heard about honeymoons, and decided this must be ours, so he left us alone to enjoy it," Jenny replied with a grin.

"Honeymoons, huh? I remember you telling me about them when I was here before. Instead of us going off together, though, our son is going away. This must be a variation on the common tradition, right?"

"Right!" Jenny laughed.

"Is this another Earth custom I need to practice?" Paul asked with an innocent look which rapidly became a teasing leer.

"You'd better believe it, buster!" Jenny chuckled softly as she began unbuttoning his shirt, kissing his neck and chest as she undid the buttons.

"I could learn to like this Earth custom," Paul whispered into Jenny's hair as his hands began caressing her back.  
  
---  
  
"Scott? Come on, son, time to go!" Paul called later that day. He and Jenny were standing in the cavern entrance, arms around each other, Jenny's head on his shoulder. She held her hand up to the sunlight to admire the color and sparkle of the stone.

"I forgot to tell you about that ring, Jenny," Paul said as he climbed back into his ship to close up the cavern. The few crystals he'd taken from the ship were once again in his hand, no longer necessary for the illusion of beauty he had created inside the cavern. He replaced them in their compartment, and turned the beam on the canyon wall again, making it look as it had before.

"What about my ring, Paul?" Jenny asked.

"Well," he began, as he closed up the ship and began to replace the ash over it. "Oh, there's Scott. Come on, son, hurry up, we need to leave!"

"Okay, Dad, coming!" Scott called as he clambered down the mountainside.

"What about my ring, Paul?" Jenny asked again.

"It's special. I told you it's made out of the same material as the spheres, and the stone is crystal from my home."

"Yes, I remember."

"As long as you wear that ring, and you aren't too far away, Scott and I can find you with our spheres. We won't be able to lose you so easily anymore!" he said, obviously pleased with himself.

"Oh, Paul, that's wonderful! Can I find you with it too?"

"No, I'm sorry, Jenny, but you can't," he replied regretfully.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't have the powers Scott and I do. That's also why we can only find you over a short range. Scott called to me across the stars with his sphere without even knowing it, because of the power within him, but you're human, and you don't have that power inside you. I'm sorry."

"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Well, that does make sense."

"But we'll always be able to find you. Just don't ever take it off."

"I won't, darling. Thank you for making it for me."

"I'm glad you like it. I was worried it wouldn't turn out to be pretty. It took a lot of work for it not to look like a tool of some kind," he laughed.

"If photography doesn't work out for you, Mr. Forrester, you can always go into the jewelry business!" she quipped.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Forrester!" Scott called. "Are we gonna hit the road soon or not? I'm getting hungry."

"You're always hungry, Scott!" Paul laughed. He turned a serious face to Jenny. "I think the boy has stomachs in his feet or something. I would never have believed a skinny body like that could hold so much food!"

Jenny laughed and hugged Paul tightly. "Come on, guys, let's go find something to eat!" she said. "By the way, Scott, that 'Mr. and Mrs. Forrester' sounds pretty good!"

"I thought so too. Maybe I should change my name too. Scott Forrester. I've used it in a couple of schools to try to hide from Fox. I think it sounds pretty good, don't you?"

"Yes, honey, it does," Jenny agreed as the three of them walked down the canyon toward town.

"I think we'd better talk about the name changing business," Paul said gravely.

"Why?" Jenny and Scott asked together.

"Aren't there a lot of legal forms that have to be filled out to change your name properly?" Paul asked.

"Yes, I guess there are," Jenny answered hesitantly.

"It seems to me we'd be creating a kind of trail for Fox to follow if we did that," Paul said. "That was another reason I thought we should get married on our own, and not have someone appointed by the state to say we'd promised enough and were married. Scott did a fine job of that anyway," he continued with a smile. "We can consider ourselves to all be Haydens or Forresters or something else, whatever you want, but legally, I think we should leave things as they are. We don't want Fox to know you're with us, either, Jenny."

"You're right, of course, Paul. You'll have to stay Paul Forrester because you're famous as a photojournalist, and your face and name are known. I'll stay Jenny Hayden legally so Fox won't know we're married, but I'll continue to use my other identification in my work so Fox won't find me by my name either. I guess Scott will have to stay a Hayden so his school records don't get totally lost."

"What a tangled web we weave..." Scott muttered.

"What was that, Scott?" Paul asked.

"Oh, nothing," he answered. "Where to now?"

"Liz has found us a house in Parker, Washington. We'll stay there a while. Your mother can still paint her illustrations, because Liz had her things sent up there already. You can probably even go to school. I'll find a job doing something other than photography, if I can. We can all use a rest, and some quiet time together," Paul answered.  
  
---  
  
Paul, Jenny and Scott had settled comfortably in the pleasant little community of Parker, quietly going about their business, not bothering anyone. The neighbors liked the Forrester family, and the kids at the high school had quickly taken to Scott.

"A mailing tube, Mrs. Forrester? That's unusual around here," Eleanor, the postmistress, said.

"It's a painting. Do you have any of that sealing tape? I forgot to get some, and this needs to go out right away," Jenny replied.

"Certainly. It's here somewhere, unless someone moved it again." She began searching the shelf behind the counter. "Are you an artist, Mrs. Forrester?" she asked as she hunted for the tape.

"Yes."

"I love paintings, but all I can paint well is walls and fences!" Eleanor chuckled. "I'd love to see your work sometime, if you wouldn't mind," she continued as she handed Jenny the tape.

"Well... Here, this isn't sealed yet. I can show you this one." Jenny opened the tube and unrolled the canvas.

"Oh... Mrs. Forrester, you are so talented!" Eleanor said with amazement. "This is beautiful! What is it for?"

"I do covers and illustrations for books. This is for a science fiction book cover," Jenny answered.

"I wish I could do something like that. You're very good."

"Thank you, Eleanor," Jenny smiled as she rolled up the canvas and put it back in the mailing tube.

"Why didn't the signature say 'Forrester'?" Eleanor asked.

Jenny gulped. She hadn't thought about the signature on the painting when she offered to show it. Eleanor had been so friendly ever since they'd moved to Parker, Jenny was beginning to consider her a friend. "I paint under different names for different publishing houses. It's a common practice among illustrators," Jenny said, hoping Eleanor would accept her explanation.

"Really? I never knew that," Eleanor replied with a warm smile. She had grown quite fond of Jenny. She found Jenny to be reserved, but warm-hearted. So many people came through the post office and acted as if the employees were machines instead of people. Eleanor appreciated Jenny's always asking how she was and always wishing her a nice day. So many people didn't even look at the person behind the post office counter. Jenny always looked people in the eye and seemed quite sincere about her interest in them.

"Yes, it's something to do with copyrights and contracts and stuff like that. A lot of authors who write for more than one publisher do the same thing. My agent suggested it," Jenny answered. "Oh, dear, look at the time. I have to run!" she continued as she paid for the postage on the mailing tube. "You have a nice day, Eleanor, okay?"

"I will, Mrs. Forrester, thanks."

"It's Jenny, Eleanor. Bee you later," she said as she hurried out of the post office.

"Bye, Jenny," Eleanor called. She smiled as she put the mailing tube in the out-of-town sack. Jenny Forrester seemed to be a very sweet lady. She was glad such a nice family had moved into their little town. Parker could use more good people like the Forresters.  
  
---  
  
"Hey, Scott!" Brad Jeffries called, running to catch up with Scott as they walked from the bus into school. "You going out for soccer?" The kids from Parker and other nearby communities went to school in the larger town of Wapato, which was five miles from Parker.

"I don't know, Brad. I don't usually do that kind of stuff."

"Why not?"

"We move around a lot, and I don't usually have time to be on teams and stuff," Scott replied with a shrug.

Brad had befriended Scott his first day at school, and was on the soccer team himself. He and Scott shared many of the same interests, and he wanted Scott on the team with him.

"Ah, come on, Scott. Even if you're only here a month, you'll make a lot of the games. I've seen you move in gym class. You'd be great."

"I haven't played soccer since I was little, Brad."

"That's okay. I'll help you practice so you can be as good as anybody on the team."

Scott looked doubtful.

"Come on, try it. All that can happen is you might not make the team, but I doubt that will happen. Practice is after school today. Why don't you come see how it goes? I bet you'll like it a lot. There's a late bus for after-school activities, so you'll still have a way home."

"I can catch a ride with my dad, if I have to. He works here in town." Scott walked quietly a moment, weighing the pain of having to leave new friends versus the fun of being part of a team. Life had been quiet for his family for a while. He'd chance it. "Okay, I'll come. Whoops, we're gonna have to hurry or we'll be late for class! Come on!" Scott urged as they ran up the school steps to their class on the second floor.

Cheryl Turner looked up and smiled at Scott as he entered the classroom too quickly and dropped in his seat just as the bell rang. She had noticed him when he first started school a few weeks ago, and was very interested in becoming better acquainted with him. He was quiet, well-behaved and a good student, but she could see the mischief in his brown eyes. She'd always had a soft spot for guys with dark hair and eyes, and he was the cutest new guy Wapato High had ever had, as far as she was concerned.

Scott smiled back at Cheryl as he got settled in his seat. He'd always liked brown-eyed blonds. She had dimples like his first girlfriend, Kelly, had had, and a musical laugh that tickled his spine when he heard it. He was aware of her interest in him, but he hadn't wanted to get too friendly with anyone until he felt his family might be able to stay in Parker a while. Goodbyes were just too hard if you got close to people. There was a dance coming up the next week, and Scott had just about convinced himself to ask Cheryl to go with him. Her welcoming smile that morning and the flutter it caused somewhere in his stomach decided him.

"Cheryl," he whispered under the cover of the morning announcements coming over the PA system.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a date for the dance yet?" he asked with a shy, crooked grin.

"No," she answered sweetly.

"Would you like to go with me?" he asked diffidently.

"Sure," she said with a dimpled smile.

Scott felt like all the Christmas lights in the world had lit up when she smiled at him like that. He was going to like living in Parker, he could tell.  
  
---  
  
Paul had gotten a job working in a new and used book store in Wapato. He enjoyed the easy pace of the job, which occasionally allowed him time to read things that caught his interest. His boss had quickly learned to trust Paul's judgment about creating eye-catching displays, and had given Paul more and more responsibility over the short time he'd worked there.

"Hey, Paul," Jack Baker, the owner, said, "There's a new shipment of books in back. Why don't you unload them and see where they'd look best."

"Sure, Jack," Paul replied. He went to the storage room and opened the box. He smiled in amusement at the drawings of weird creatures on the covers of the books in the box. The box contained a shipment of books which purported to be about the author's personal encounters with alien beings. Paul knew this was one of those books Scott would relish, and reminded himself to show it to him if he stopped by the shop later, as he often did after school. Scott enjoyed looking around the shop, or getting a soda with kids from school in the nearby drug store, and would wait until Paul got off work so they could ride home together.

Paul browsed the shop searching for more books like the ones he'd unloaded, so he could make a grouping of them. When he'd finished making the display, he stood back and surveyed his handiwork, nearly laughing aloud at the pictures of the aliens on many of the books. There were a wide variety of body-types illustrated, none of which resembled any species he'd encountered on his travels. There were some with beautiful representations of aliens, which looked like the artist had a real concern for representing aliens not as monsters or scary creatures, but as lovely beings who were simply different in form from humans. His attention was drawn to these covers, and he looked at them more closely. He smiled warmly when he found the artist's name on nearly every one of those covers to be one of Jenny's aliases. He hadn't seen any of her illustration work before, and was pleased with what she had been doing. He thought he might be able to advise her on some of her paintings, if she wanted him to. It would be fun to see how closely he could describe some of the other planets' landscapes and life-forms, and how well she could paint them from his descriptions.

 

"Scott, you're late today. Did you have to stay after school and clap erasers or something?" Paul teased as Scott entered the shop.

"No, I stayed after for soccer practice. Brad talked me into going out for the team."

"How did you do?"

"Coach said I made the team, but it's going to take a lot of practice. I haven't played soccer in a long time. Lucky for me they were short-handed."

"I'm sure the coach thought you were good or he wouldn't have let you on the team. I'm proud of you for making it," Paul smiled, clapping his son affectionately on the back. "Come here, there's something I want to show you," he continued, indicating the display he'd made earlier.

"Whoa! Gross! Some of these dudes are really bad!" Scott laughed, examining the 'aliens' on the covers of several of the books.

"Does that mean good?"

"No, this time I actually do mean bad! Where do they come up with these ideas anyway?"

"I guess they just don't know where to find out what true aliens look like," Paul joked.

"I guess not!"

"Look at these, though. Aren't they beautiful?"

"Yeah, those are a lot different than the rest."

Paul looked at the book covers silently a moment, then turned to Scott. "Your mother painted them," he said with quiet pride.

"You're kidding," Scott said in surprise.

"No, I'm not. She's very good, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is. She didn't paint things like that the whole summer we had together in Dayton. She just did a few sketches while she was teaching me to draw. She hasn't uncovered the ones she's been working on since we've been here when I've been around. I had no idea she was so good."

"Me either. Pick out one and we'll buy it."

"Great! Thanks, Dad." Scott carefully examined the books, choosing one that had a picture of a dragon on it. He noticed a striking similarity among his mother's book covers, and wondered if his father had seen the same thing.

"Do you see anything kind of familiar about these pictures, Dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's an eye in each one, either looking at the picture, or the picture is shown in the middle of the eye, like a reflection."

"Yes, I saw that. I wondered about it, but I thought it must have something to do with the stories."

"Don't you recognize that eye?"

"Should I?"

"It's yours. I watched her do drawings of you during the summer when you weren't paying attention to what she was doing, and she always spent a lot of time on your eyes. They were always shaped like that, done in that style, but she'd spend a lot of time struggling with the iris and pupil, like she couldn't get it right. Maybe that's why all of these have an image of the picture she was painting where the iris should be."

"My eyes look like that?" Paul asked, a bewildered look on his face.

"Yep."

Paul walked over to a chrome display case and studied himself in the reflection there. "Maybe you're right. I never thought about that being my eye."

As he stood examining his mother's artwork, Scott thought to himself that her use of Paul's eye explained why all the pictures seemed so gentle and so sympathetic toward the creatures being portrayed. If Jenny really was trying to paint things the way she thought Paul would see them, the empathetic, sympathetic feeling toward the beings portrayed was exactly right. Scott had had respect for his mother's talents before, but now he was touched as well as impressed at what she was able to express on canvas.  
  
---  
  
As they drove home together, Paul asked Scott, "How do you like living here, son?"

"It's great. Living with Mom is terrific, I'm making friends at school, the house is nice, and..."

"And what, Scott?" Paul asked, turning into their driveway and parking the car.

"Today I asked the prettiest girl to the dance next week and she said yes," he said with a grin while getting out of the car.

Paul put his arm around his son's shoulders as they walked up the sidewalk to their home. "Small town life is pretty nice, isn't it?"

"Yep," Scott chuckled, patting his dad on the back.

Jenny had been watching for them to come home, and stood waiting for her men with a warm smile and open arms. The smell of a still-baking Dutch apple pie filled the house with a cozy warmth.

"Welcome home, husband!" Jenny greeted Paul.

"It's good to be home, wife," Paul said giving Jenny a warm hug and a tender kiss.

THE END


End file.
